BOW TEAPOT.
With leaf as spout, and grape-vine handle.
This little volume has been primarily written with a view to enable the possessors of old china to determine the factories at which their ware was produced. A modest attempt has been made to show that the china-shelf is a record of men’s triumphs and failures, and the fantastic shepherds and shepherdesses, lustrous bowls, queer printed dishes, and bizarre decorated jugs, may be regarded by a reflective mind as so many symbols representing something less perishable than the clay of the potter.
These “Chats” originally appeared in the pages of Our Home. In collecting them in volume form I trust that they will appeal to a wider circle of readers.
Never was a greater interest taken in Art, and the growth of popular literature has developed a taste for objects of art in the home. The china-shelf is now regarded as worthy of keen and discriminating study. Its treasures, often heirlooms, have been brought into the light of day, and amateur collectors can now be numbered by thousands.
I am enabled to include a useful feature in the list of prices obtained at recent sales, by kind permission of the proprietors of the Connoisseur, whose “Sale Prices,” published monthly, is most valuable to the collector.
It is hoped that the Bibliography of works on china and pottery may be of use to those who wish to study the subject more deeply, and a copious Index will prove useful for ready reference.
The “Chats” relating to Lustre Ware, Old English Mugs, and Wedgwood are not upon English china, but deal with earthenware; they are included in the volume in order to increase its scope and usefulness.
My thanks are due to Mr. W. G. Honey, of Cork, for kindly allowing me to reproduce specimens from his collection which was exhibited at the Cork Exhibition. I am indebted to Mr. A. Merrington Smith, Fine Art Dealer, of Lowestoft, for information concerning the recent unearthing of moulds and fragments of china on the site of the old factory at Lowestoft, a discovery of very great value. By permission of the Coalport Company I am giving specimens of their modern productions and some of their marks not published before.
ARTHUR HAYDEN.
General.—Catalogue of Specimens of British Pottery and Porcelain in the Museum of Practical Geology. 1876. (Out of print.)
(This Collection is now at the Bethnal Green Museum.)
Marks and Monograms on Pottery and Porcelain. William Chaffers.
(The last edition, 1901, contains over 3,500 Potters’ marks of all the well-known European and Oriental factories.)
Ceramic Art of Great Britain. 2 vols. Llewellyn Jewitt. 1878.
The China Collector’s Pocket Companion. Mrs. Bury Palliser.
(Containing marks only—arranged in order.)
Old English Pottery. Mr. and Mrs. Frank Freeth. (Morgan, Thompson, & Jamison.)
English Porcelain. A. H. Church. 1904.
English Earthenware. A. H. Church. 1884.
Art of the Old English Potter. By M. L. Solon.
History of Old English Porcelain. By M. L. Solon. 1903.
History and Description of English Porcelain. By Wm. Burton. Cassell & Co. 1902.
History and Description of English Pottery. By Wm. Burton. 1906.
Examples of Early English Pottery. John Eliot Hodgkin, F.S.A., and Edith Hodgkin. 1891.
Pre-Wedgwood English Pottery (Solon Collection). Connoisseur, December, 1901; February, 1902.
Pottery and Porcelain, A Guide to Collectors. F. Litchfield. 1900.
Catalogue of English Porcelain at British Museum. R. L. Hobson. 1905.
Guide to English Pottery and Porcelain at British Museum. R. L. Hobson. 1910.
Catalogue of Schreiber Collection at Victoria and Albert Museum. B. Rackham. 1915.
Particular. Bow, Chelsea, and Derby Porcelain. William Bemrose. 1898.
Bristol, Two Centuries of Ceramic Art in. Hugh Owen. 1873.
Chelsea China. Connoisseur, March, 1903.
Bow Porcelain. Burlington Magazine, vol. xxv., 1914.
Bristol Porcelain. Burlington Magazine, vol. xx., 1912.
Old Derby China Factory. John Haslem. 1876.
Liverpool, The Art of Pottery in. Joseph Mayer. 1855.
Liverpool Catalogue of Pottery and Porcelain. P. Entwistle. 1907.
The Liverpool Potters. C. T. Gatty. 1882.
Lowestoft. Connoisseur, April, 1903; October, 1903. Queen, Christmas number, 1903. Lady’s Pictorial, Dec. 30, 1905.
Lowestoft China. By W. W. R. Spelman. (Jarrold, Norwich.) 1906.
Lustre Ware. Connoisseur, November, 1902.
Saltglaze Teapots, Old English. Connoisseur, February, 1903.
Staffordshire Potteries, History of the. S. Shaw. 1829.
Swansea and Nantgarw, The Ceramics of. William Turner. 1897.
Toby Jugs and their Near Relatives. Lady’s Pictorial, Jan., 1906.
Transfer Printing on Pottery. Burlington Magazine, vol. vi., 1904-5.
Wedgwood, Life of Josiah. Miss Meteyard. 1865.
—— Memorials of Miss Meteyard. 1874.
—— Connoisseur, May, 1903.
—— A. H. Church. (Portfolio Monograph.)
Worcester China. A Century of Potting in the City of Worcester. R. W. Binns. 1877.
Worcester China. A Record of the Work of Forty-five Years (1852-1897). R. W. Binns. 1898.
Old Worcester. Connoisseur, October, 1902.
Worcester Porcelain. R. L. Hobson. 1910.
Biscuit.—The first stage of china after being fired. It is white and porous, and ready for decoration. Its surface resembles that of an ordinary clay pipe.
China.—A term used to include all porcelains.
Earthenware.—All ware that, in contradistinction to porcelain, is not translucent.
Glaze.—The glassy substance applied to the surface of pottery and porcelain.
Lead Glaze.—The porcelains of Bow, Chelsea, and other early factories contained as much as 40 per cent. of oxide of lead. Modern chinas contain less than half that, and some glazes are “leadless.” As to the terrible results of the use of this glaze on the health of the potters, see Report of Professors Thorpe and Oliver to Home Office on subject (C. 9207, 1899).
Over-Glaze Decoration.—Decoration after the surface has received its transparent glaze. This decoration admits of a wider range of colours. On hard paste, such as Plymouth, it stands flat on the surface; on soft paste, such as Bow, it is partly incorporated.
Under-Glaze Decoration.—Decoration applied to the unglazed surface when in biscuit state; the whole is then covered with transparent glaze and refired.
Ironstone China.—A term invented by Mason, who took out a patent for his ware. It is not china, but is a heavy class of earthenware highly decorated. It was generally adopted by other Staffordshire makers.
Moulds.—The models from which china is made. These are of plaster of Paris.
Opaque.—Incapable of transmitting light. This distinguishes pottery from porcelain.
Paste.—The body or material of which porcelain is made.
Hard.—China which, on being broken, shows a sparkling surface like that of a flint stone, and is impervious to any staining by colour applied to it. Plymouth and Bristol and New Hall are the only true hard-paste porcelains of this country.
Soft.—China which, on being broken, shows a porous surface capable of absorbing colour.
Porcelain.—Commonly called china; is distinguished from pottery by being translucent.
True Porcelain is made from a mixture of two minerals—petuntse, or “china stone,” and kaolin, or “china clay,” with nothing artificially added; e.g., Chinese, Dresden, Plymouth, and Bristol chinas.
Glassy Porcelain, containing an artificial admixture of glass to give the paste translucency; e.g., Chelsea, Bow, Nantgarw, Pinxton.
Bone-ash Porcelain, of which Spode’s china is an example.
Pottery.—A term used to include all the earthenwares.
Printing.—Formerly, in old chinas, all the coloured decorations were painted. Now, by use of various mechanical devices, women and girls are employed to transfer printed patterns on modern china.
Transfer-printing.—A process used at Liverpool by Sadler and Green, and at Worcester, in which the design from an engraved copper plate was transferred to specially prepared paper and applied to the ware. Black and brown were the main colours used (see Illustrations, pp. 244-5 and facing p. 76).
Translucent.—Transparent. All porcelains, when held up to a strong light, are translucent, in varying degree, according to thickness of paste.